Original scientific paper
Guilt, Repentance, and Reconciliation in the Conceptual Perspective of the Scriptures and Christian Denominations
Dubravko Turalija
orcid.org/0000-0002-8806-3967
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
Defining the concepts of guilt and punishment in the morphological and Patristic context is in collision with the Deuteronomistic notion of repentance and forgiveness, which was crystallized through the LXX theology in the New Testament. In the context of Old Testament theology, there is no ultimatum for forgiveness. Jesus’ imperative of forgiveness is unconditional and absolute because the concepts of guilt and punishment have mutated through the history of salvation. In the Patristic Period, guilt and punishment had dominated, while in the Deuteronomistic period, guilt and punishment mutated in repentance and forgiveness. Finally, in the New Testament, forgiveness is given a central place. Unconditional forgiveness is the hallmark of the New Testament and must be interpreted in this context. The New Testament principle is that the righteous man should convert the sinner, unlike the Old Testament principle where the righteous would move away from the sinner. Among the Christian denominations, there are also differences in the interpretation of forgiveness. The Catholic interpretation differs from the Orthodox and Protestant which insist on repentance, while Catholic theology emphasizes mutual forgiveness, viewing repentance more as a process, and not just as an act. While reconciliation in the Old Testament relates to reconciling man to God, in the New Testament reconciliation between God and man exists in the reciprocity of mutual reconciliation between man and man. In the principle of mutual reconciliation, the Catholic Church follows the example of Merciful Jesus, which it turned into a doctrine in the seven Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy.
Keywords
Deuteronomistic theology; spiritual and corporal works of mercy; sin; Catholics; Christianization; guilt; punishment; LXX; forgiveness; repentance; reconciliation; Orthodox; Protestants
Hrčak ID:
171262
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2016.
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